Tomorrow’s Next Continental
Block-buster:
Measuring Deformation in Real Time

An exciting new application of global positioning
systems (GPS) technology allows for fine scale investigations of global
plate tectonic motions and interactions. Continuous GPS stations now provide
real-time measurements of displacement. This advancement has made it
possible to not only study present day large-scale plate motions and
interactions all around the globe, but also to focus on diffuse plate
boundaries. The plate boundary zone in the Western United States
accommodates the relative motions between the North American and Pacific
plates. Strain in the Earth's crust that accommodates this relative motion
between the plates is released in occasional large earthquakes. In this talk
I will cover new advances in monitoring the ongoing strain pattern in the
plate boundary zone, using continuous GPS data. A relatively dense array of
continuous GPS instruments delineate strain patterns in the crust in
California that appear to change on time scales of weeks to months. These
transient features of crustal strain are providing new insights into the
driving forces that ultimately may influence earthquake location and timing
within the plate boundary zone.

Over the past 10 years Prof. Holt has been working on methods that relate
the distribution of strain within continental interiors to the relative
motions of the tectonic plates. He has served on numerous national and
international panels and was one of the founders of UNAVCO, Inc., a
non-profit organization that provides equipment support for global
positioning system research related to measuring tectonic movements.

Significant portions of the coastal margins of New York City, Long Island
and northern New Jersey are particularly prone to serious flooding due to
the low topography and gentle slopes of the surrounding coastal plain. The
shape and orientation of Long Island Sound makes it a natural funnel for
northeast winds to blow into and pile up water in the western Sound during
major storm events. Such set ups then propagate into New York Harbor through
the East River. Northeast winds over the coastal Atlantic Ocean also raise
sea level against the south coast of Long Island due to the Coriolis force,
further driving storm waters into New York Harbor.

The research objective of the Stony Brook Storm Surge Group is to determine
how effective storm surge barriers might be in protecting the New York
Metropolitan area from extreme storm events in an era of global climate
change and rising sea levels. Our approach is to couple a storm surge ocean
model with a mesoscale weather-forecasting model, to predict the flooding
that can result from future hurricanes and nor’easters. The group is
currently developing an operational coastal flooding hazard warning system,
designed to significantly improve current methods of forecasting the
location, timing and severity of storm events.

Malcolm Bowman is a Distinguished Service Professor in the Marine Science
Research Center. His research interests focus on the dynamics of coastal
fronts, eddies, island wakes and coastal sea straits. His approach uses a
combination of observations and model simulations to describe dynamically
fundamental physical processes in shallow seas and estuaries. He is
interested in how these processes control and influence the structure and
production of the marine food chain from phytoplankton up to and including
fish.

Human health is affected
by a complex web of interactions with the natural and built environment.
Epidemiological studies indicate that earth materials and
metals/metalloids associated with earth materials can have a profound
effect on human health. Relevant examples include the prevalence of
stomach cancer in parts of Wales, selenium deficiency in China, and, more
tenuous, the prevalence of multiple sclerosis clusters in Canada and
elsewhere. However, the fundamental mechanisms by which earth materials
and associated metals/metalloids interfere with the normal functioning of
organisms at the molecular and cellular level is not understood. The
complexity of this problem requires an interdisciplinary approach that
draws upon concepts and methods common in the soil science, geochemistry,
and environmental science, combined with concepts and methods common in
the biomedical research community. Stony Brook researchers, led by Martin
Schoonen, have started a new program that addresses questions at the
interface of earth sciences and biomedical sciences. In this presentation,
the emerging field of Medical Geology will be introduced and some example
of recent research in this area will be presented.

Martin Schoonen is Professor of Geochemistry and Associate VP for
Research. His research group is supported by NSF, NASA, EPA, and DOE. The
common theme in his research is the role minerals may play as catalysts.
In the context of Medical Geology, he is interested in understanding the
reactivity of minerals toward genetic molecules, RNA and DNA, and human
cells.

In-service credit available for teachers

If your school requires that you have a
sequence of educational opportunities in order to receive in-service credit,
please advise them that during the Fall Semester we will be offering one-hour
of in-service credit for each of the:

Ø Three Geology Open
Nights - Usually meets fourth or last Friday of month